Valmont's Karma
by The Li0n Queen
Summary: Valmont has always, always laughed at Jackie Chan for having a niece hanging around and messing things up. Now it's Jackie's turn....Have fun! R&R please.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**The arrival of Catrina.**

"Uncle Valmont!" A young woman hurtled towards the afore mentioned uncle, who had unwisely opened the door of his detached house. "Oh wow! You've shrank!" She announced gleefully, wrapping her arms around Valmont's waist. 'She' happened to be Valmont's niece, Catrina Korr. She had only just got out of school and had been sent to spend her summer holiday in America with her Uncle. Of course, he didn't know that yet.

Valmont glanced down at the rather short teenager and raised an eyebrow.

"Uncle? I'm not your uncle! I don't know you at all."

Catrina looked puzzled, she stepped back and they both looked each other up and down. Valmont, looking tall and elegant in his suit, Catrina, looking slightly worse for wear after the long plane flight and very difficult taxi ride, in a pair of jeans and a vest top, with a hoody wrapped around her waist, they both looked completely different. Catrina was shorter than Valmont, and yet wore jeans as if she were a few inches taller, supposedly she liked the 'pooled around her feet' look. Although the jeans were longer than they should be, her vest top was shorter, showing her pierced belly button, newly pierced by the looks of the redness. If it weren't for their hair, both sporting the ash blonde ponytail with similar fringe, and equally arrogant looks, then Catrina's claim of family wouldn't have stood a chance. Her bright violet suitcase stood abandoned a few feet away, still with all the flight details on labels.

"Yeah, didn't mum tell you I was comm-…" Catrina trailed off, as she realized her uncle had no idea who she was. "I'll kill her!" She growled, angrily, "hang on, I've got proof we're related." She turned tail and ran the few steps back to her bag which she pulled closer to her new home for the summer. Digging around in the side pockets for a moment, dislodging sweets, wrappers, and many other strange useless items, Catrina found what she was searching for. "Ah! Got it!"

Valmont looked down at the scrap of paper that had been pushed into his hand. It was a younger him, young by a good fifteen years, and hanging around his neck was, undoubtedly, Catrina.

The still grinning Catrina pushed past him and lugged her suitcase into the hallway.

"Snazzy place this, innit!"

"Hang on a minute, this just means that I met you…Once…It doesn't mean we're family." Valmont argued, starting to feel worried. He had business to attend to, mostly including demons. He was still trying to keep Shendu happy and this girl, whoever she was, couldn't be part of that!

"Ugh, you are such a spaz!" Catrina said, scowling at Valmont. They both sounded alike, although Catrina seemed to use a lot more British slang than Valmont had even heard of!

"I'm a what?" He asked, his own crisp accent clear.

"Oh, never mind, look, call mum on your phone. I have her number somewhere. Y'know…You're sister? Helen?" She prompted. Valmont's brow creased.

"H-Helen?" He replied weakly. So that's who she was. Jesus, he hadn't spoken to Helen in years…Apparently fifteen years was the last time they had been in touch.

"Oh good, you know her, so, where's my room? And what have you got to eat? I'm starving!" Catrina's voice got quieter as she went to explore the house. Valmont raced after her.

"Your room? Oh no! No, no, no. You can't stay here. I…Don't have any spare rooms…" Valmont lied instantly. He was very good at lying, and even better at enforcing lies. If he had to pay Chow, Finn and Ratso to sleep in a room each for the next week then he would. He couldn't have a niece cluttering up the place, the amount of times he had laughed at Jackie Chan and his extended family. He groaned, clutching at his face. This was terrible. Truly, truly terrible!

All he could hear, however, was Catrina's amazement at his house, well of course he was a master criminal, he had money to spare, and if he was going to live in this house, he was going to make it…Maybe not homely, but at least comfortable.

The kitchen was huge, and immaculate, probably because it was never used. He sometimes used the counter to place pieces of important information so that the didn't forget, and sometimes he used it to warm food up, but apart from breakfast the room was unused mostly. Catrina stood in the middle, on the tiled floor; she had been born to the wrong person. Valmont should be her father, wow; she could have some fun in here.

"Can I have some money then? I have no where else to go, you'll have to pay for a hotel, and of course I don't expect for you to just throw me in anywhere. Mum said you were loaded, and since you don't have any kids, you must have loads of spare cash, and you can spend it on me! Aren't you lucky that I've arrived?" She grinned.

Valmont forced a grin back, a very weak grin, but a grin none the less. He was starting to get nervous, he had a meeting with Shendu, and Shendu was not someone to keep waiting. Actually, Shendu was not a someone in any sense of the word. Shendu was a demon with an anger problem. Not a big deal? He could breathe fire and summon his own special breed of ninjas. Thought that might get you.

"Lucky? Ha…Ha, ha, ha." He laughed. "Lucky…That's not quite what I was thinking. Listen, Catherine-"

"Catrina."

"Whatever, you can't stay here, I have important business to attend to and I do not need some school girl messing any of my deals up. Understand? So, I will pay for a hotel, _of my choice_, and then you can phone your mother and I will pay for you to fly straight back to England tomorrow." He said briskly. There was a slight feeling of guilt, but he masked it well, it was for her own protection. He didn't want her getting involved in any of his work. Or her hands on any of his money.

Catrina looked at him, her shoulders drooped, and her eyes had already dampened.

"Y-You don't want me?" She asked, in a pitiful voice. "Mum said this would happen, but I just wanted to spend time with my favourite uncle. My _only_ uncle. You see, we've been arguing, and mum wants me out of the house, but I don't know where to go, and she said that nobody would take me in and…I just said your name. I never thought she'd send me over here to prove she was right…But, but-" Here, she paused dramatically to sniff, and clear her throat, although when she next spoke it sounded worse than ever, she was going to burst into tears any moment now. "She did, and I'm here, and I just wanted to prove her wrong that you do want me, but…Well, I'll go if you want." She said, her head lowered, and when she did look up tears were streaming down her face. Her mascara was running and Valmont frowned. She was good.

He knew exactly what she was doing, she was faking it, he knew that much. She wasn't really crying, they were crocodile tears…Catrina gave an anguished sob. He wasn't going to give into her, which was just what she wanted. She was obviously as skilled as Valmont at getting what she wanted, although in different ways. No, he wasn't going to let her stay. Definitely not. No way. Not a chance. It was too dangerous.

"Ok, you can stay." He said, against his better judgment.

The change in Catrina was instant, she ran over and once again gave Valmont a hug, he reached around and awkwardly patted her back. Nobody had given Valmont a hug in years, he simply wasn't used to this sort of treatment. Catrina grinned.

"Cheers, I'll go get unpacked, yeah? Care to show me to my room?" She asked, not a sign of crying anywhere. Valmont was impressed and extremely worried for the days to come, she seemed a very manipulative child, and she reminded him far too much of his self at that age.

Maybe he could pay her to keep away from his meetings; she seemed to love the fact that he was rich. Helen had always been well off, but had never believed in spending it. She'd rather have a big bank balance than money in her purse. Valmont sighed to himself, as Catrina finally stepped back, tossing her hair. They were more alike then the two would like to admit.

Now, he just had to call and get a message to Shendu he wouldn't be coming today…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Valmont isn't great at keeping secrets.**

"Look, Helen, how dare you send me a fourteen year old girl with no warning, and no explanation other than you don't want her! That is such bad parenting! What if I hadn't been in?" Valmont bellowed down the phone, the next day, Catrina was still asleep; it had taken her a while to calm down after her excitement over her room.

"She's nineteen, she would have survived. And besides, I meant to call you, but I forgot, just like you've forgotten every single one of her birthdays." A smooth voice retorted. "Every single year, birthday and Christmas I've had to pretend your card has gotten lost in the post. She looks up to you, although I haven't a clue why, and I'd like to show the little brat that her adoring uncle, who would never do a thing wrong, is actually a master criminal and once caught will probably face years in jail."

Valmont glared at the phone. All the reasons why he hadn't called all those years had suddenly come flooding back. Helen. The dragon, he had always thought that she would go nicely with Shendu. Actually, he had always thought that she would marry Shendu, divorce him, take all his money and get horrifically murdered in the night by Shadow Khan. He must introduce them one day.

"Look, Helen, I have important busin-"

"And what do expect me to do about it? I'm sick of her. I just need a few weeks by myself. No more stroppy mood swings, no more arguing, no more scaring my boyfriends, no more refusing to do anything but sit at her computer. I just need some space."

Valmont smiled, wryly, 'I just need some space' had been Helen's excuse for divorcing three perfectly fine, rich, men. No wonder Catrina was a little bit rebellious, given a mother like Helen, Australia wouldn't be far away enough from her. America wasn't.

"Send her back at the end of the holidays, and she will go to college and be a good little girl and get out of my hair." Helen was saying, while Valmont thought about how difficult it would be to move to Australia. "Oh, and don't let her get a tattoo, any more piercing, dye her hair with permanent dye, or get a serious boyfriend. Oh! And don't let her have sex. She looks upon it as some kind of revenge at me!"

Valmont, having heard enough held the phone away from his ear. He did not need to know about his niece's sex life, or her mother's reaction.

"I'm warning you, V, if she comes back saying you let her do anything, I shall fly over there myself." Valmont shuddered.

"No need, Hells bells. I'll make sure she doesn't have sex, acquire any more piercings or tattoos or dye her hair. Happy now?" Wait, how in the world had the conversation gone from him shouting at her for being a bad mother to him meekly agreeing to all of her terms?

"Aww, that's no fun, Uncle V, what am I supposed to do this holiday? Sit and knit? Bye Mum!" She said, making Valmont jump. Quickly, Catrina pressed the end call button and turned to Valmont. "So, what did the old bat have to say? That I'm irresponsible? Argumentative? No? Oooh! I know! That I use my very explicit tales of sex to annoy her?"

Valmont held up his hand. "Please, Catrina, I don't want to know."

Catrina laughed. "Ahhh, it's not like that really, I just write down all these stories in my diary, and she goes and reads it. It stops her searching for my real diary." She bounced up and down on her toes, still in her pajamas, baggy pink bottoms with a pale pink camisole top. Her hair, loose, was scruffy, and she looked so much younger, and slightly more vulnerable, without make up on.

Valmont smirked, he had to hand it to her, she'd got Helen sorted. It was quite a good

Plan; he wished he'd thought of it when he was younger.

"Right, well, I'll see you, this afternoon. Here, fifty dollars, which should get you through the day. Perhaps you could go into the city and see a movie?" Valmont said, handing the bemused teenager a wad of cash.

"Surrre. What are you going to do?" She asked, keeping a tight hold on the notes.

"I, ah, have to go into the city as well; I postponed a meeting yesterday so I could see you get settled in. I could give you a lift?" He offered. Catrina nodded and ran off to get changed. Hopefully his three lackeys hadn't decided to hitch a lift. One of them would obviously be driving, usually Ratso, but the other two liked to tag along in the back seat.

Valmont stood by the open door, some time later, rubbing his forehead, his car was waiting. Where on earth was Catrina?

"CATRINA. We have to go! Now!" He yelled, Catrina sauntered downstairs, in a different but similar pair of jeans and the same hoody she had wrapped around her waist the day before. She yawned, but looked immaculate, her hair was smooth and shiny, her jumper obviously designer, her make up as carefully applied as possible, and she had the 'I don't care if I'm late, I look goo-oo-ood' walk off pat.

"I'm here, I'm here, don't fret! Oooh, limo!" Catrina said, patting her uncle's cheek as she walked out. She opened the car door and slid inside, leaving Valmont to lock up and put certain alarms on and such. Taking a seat in the car, Catrina looked around curiously.

It was a very average limo, all done up, nice and clean, with alcohol placed in certain areas. Of course the two stunned young men sat in, each with a bottle in their hand wasn't what she had though a limo included.

"Hi." She grinned, looking at the two men. Finn and Chow looked at each other nervously, had Valmont gotten a girlfriend? Why would he be taking her to meet Shendu?

"Uhh, hello?" Finn started, leaning over and offering his hand. Catrina looked down at it and shook it warmly. "I'm Finn, and this is Chow, and the guy driving is Ratso."

Catrina began to giggle. "Why are you wearing that? Didn't you know? We've moved on from the 1970's." She said, sympathetically. Finn scowled.

"I just like the look." He shrugged, as Chow leant over to say hello.

Valmont got in the car, looking stressed. "What are you two doing in here! Oh never mind…This is Catrina, my niece." He said pointedly. "She will be dropped off in the city. She isn't coming with us." Catrina grinned, especially at Finn, who assumed it was just because she was a fashion conscious teenager.

"Well? Go!"

The car sped off. Catrina spent most of the time sitting between Chow and Finn, since they had the best window, and didn't mind in the least if she asked questions.

Ratso stopped the car and Catrina was told to move, giggling at something Chow had said, Catrina got out of the car.

"Wait! How do you know when to pick me up?" She asked, as the door closed and the car left. Luckily it hit traffic, and so Catrina was able to follow the car by walking, or running at one point. They had stopped outside a big office building, and Catrina watched them all get out, at first she was just going to run up to him find out the arrangements and leave them to it but a mini Catrina appeared all in red by her shoulder.

"Follow them in. He's been so secretive of this business. Aren't you curious?"

"No! Just say something now!" Another Catrina dressed in white argued. "Give your uncle some privacy!"

Catrina shook her head, and both disappeared. She stood and deliberated for a few moments. That was enough, they had gone in and Catrina had no choice but to follow them sneakily. Grinning, Catrina set off and walked in. There didn't seem to be anyone there, she had expected at least a receptionist. The place was abandoned.

Although Valmont and his crew, plus one Hak Foo, who had been waiting for them inside, had taken the lift, Catrina just saw the floor number and started up the stairs. This was getting more and more puzzling. Why was an empty building so important? Why couldn't she go?

Panting slightly when she got to the tenth floor Catrina stopped outside a door, open only a fraction, hearing voices.

"Listen, Shendu, we have looked everywhere. There isn't a spell. I'm sorry, but you're stuck like that." Catrina heard Valmont say, she recognized him anywhere, but the next voice was the stuff made from nightmares. Dangerous, full of power, and obviously angry, Catrina had never heard anything like it.

"I will not accept that fact!" Assuming that this was Shendu, Catrina crept close to the door, to hear easier. "You just haven't been searching!"

"I have, I've spent thousands on books, we've searched the internet, libraries, monasteries, and the amount of trips my men have been to China is unbelievable!"

"You will search harder! You will keep searching, or you will die. There is a way, you are just incompetent!" The voice hissed. Catrina's eyes were as wide as saucers. She glanced inside the door and saw the five men talking to a huge statue on a wall. From what she could see, the statue looked as if it had been broken apart countless times, a big snake all curled up. The snake had glowing red eyes, were they rubies? They couldn't really be glowing…And who was talking?

Catrina leant on the door and it creaked.

"What was that!" The hissing continued.

She winced and suddenly there was a man clothed all in black with red eyes looking at her through the crack!

She started to run, heading for the stairs, seeing black shapes appear on the floors on the walls and suddenly there were hundreds of the men. She didn't know what they were, or what they would do to her, all she knew was she was in big trouble. Catrina ran down the stairs, two, three at a time, but still they were gaining on her, they seemed to just fly through the air.

It was like a light bulb appeared above her head, and Catrina paused, loosing valuable time to sit on the banister, it went all the way down without a break, she slid down, now going faster then the flying men. The wind whipped through her hair, but she was far to scared to realize how much fun that would be. It was a bit hairy on the corners, every time she thought she was going to fall off, but she managed not too, probably through sheer adrenaline.

Out of the building, she had made it, daylight once more! However one glance behind her told her that getting out had only saved her for so long. Still, they came after her, completely silent, and their red eyes making Catrina's blood run cold. She ran, thankful she still had the fifty dollars her uncle had given her tucked away neatly in her jeans.

She ran until she saw crowds, this was where the shops were, and Catrina wasn't sure whether to curse them, or be relieved, it made getting away slower and tougher, but in a crowd no one could see her. Catrina jumped on a bus, no, wait, a tram? She paid for her ticket and ducked down so none of the ninja's could see her.

Eventually she got off, when she was sure that she hadn't been followed, finally her heart was given a chance to relax, and her breathing could slow down. Valmont was going to kill her when he saw her…She walked along the streets, just looking, they weren't as big here, small and pokey really. Strange names like 'Uncle's Rare Finds'.

The Shadow Khan attacked again, although it wasn't really an attack, they merely circled around her, like sharks. Catrina found her voice, and screamed shrilly. There was a crash inside the shop, but at least it had caught someone's attention.

A young Chinese man came running out and took two of the shadow khan out immediately. Following him out was a young girl, determined to be part of the action and a huge man. Following that was an older Chinese man. Catrina didn't know where to look, but they seemed to know what they were doing, good thing, because Catrina didn't have a clue.

The older man kept zapping the Shadow Khan, making them melt, the young one was fighting, and his movements fluid and exact. Catrina was in awe, she turned to watch the big man, Toru, squash one, and the small girl was trying to fight, but nothing compared to her elders.

Distracted by the group of, in Catrina's opinion, super hero's, Catrina didn't notice the two black shapes appear behind her until they had each a hold of her arms. The rest disappeared, melting into the ground, and to her horror, so did Catrina!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Shendu finds a new friend.**

"Who are you?" The statue asked. Catrina, pale and shaking, stared at it in disbelief. It talked to her…Statues didn't talk, she gaped at it for a bit until Valmont stepped in.

"Shendu, I am so sorry, this is my niece, she wasn't meant to find out. I sent her away; I knew you wouldn't want to be disturbed by such a young, stupid, irresponsible, disobedient girl. Don't worry, sir, I assure you, she will be dealt with appropriately."

Catrina didn't even listen to her uncle shouting his insults at her; she just kept staring at Shendu, occasionally at the two Shadow Khan that stood either side of her. She licked her lips, and swallowed. Seemingly, Valmont didn't work in an office…

"Shut up Valmont. I didn't ask you!" The statue said, it's eyes glowing a brighter red. Valmont shut up. "Your name, child?"

Now that Catrina was closer, she could see that it wasn't a giant snake curled up as she had first believed, but a dragon.

"C-Catrina." She said, her mouth dry, unable to stop staring.

"Very well. It seems a pity to end such a young life…But since I cannot have just anybody knowing about me..." Catrina's head which had been sinking lower and lower jerked up right.

"End! No! Please! I was just curious…I won't tell anybody! I don't know anyone here!"

"I'm sorry, only those who worked for me get to live." The statue said, Valmont looked at him and then at Catrina.

"Oh no!" He said, quickly, stepping forward. "I won't have my niece working for you, she's not here long, a matter of days, really…"

"He's lying. I'm here all summer, and I'll work for you." Catrina nodded, with a smile. "Anything at all, I could be very useful. I mean, it can't be much fun being a lump of stone in an empty building day after day… I'm great on computers, and…I'm a wicked people person, talk to anyone I can, convince them of most things usually." She said pointedly. "I can…Organize stuff! Draw pictures and write stories, reports and stuff, or, uh, read maps?" Now Catrina was digging deep, what had her teachers at school told her? "I'm energetic, and rarely need motivating, especially early mornings." She continued for a few more minutes, listing everything she was good at, it was a very impressive list.

Shendu considered her offer while she spoke. He didn't have anything he needed her for…Although he was sure he could think of something. If the statue could have grinned, it would have.

"I'm very obedient-"

"Quiet!" Catrina shut up, when an ancient dragon told you to shh, usually, unless you were either very foolish or very brave, you shhed. Shendu had noticed that Valmont now seemed to be agreeing with this apparently brilliant young female, even though moments before he was telling a very different story.

"I don't have anything for you to do; most of my demands are met by these incompetent fools." Catrina paled. This was it. She was dead meat; she was going to be burned. What was that posh word that was used? Ah, yes, incinerated. It didn't sound so bad when she thought that. "However," the hissing continued, and a spark of hope fluttered in Catrina's chest. "I'm sure you can be used for something. Perhaps Valmont needs bait for his next mission?"

Valmont frowned, that is what he and his small group had come for, to see what Shendu wanted next.

"Next mission, Shendu?" He asked, wanting to know what it was before agreeing to let his niece in on it. Valmont may be a, or may have been a powerful crime lord, with no weaknesses, yaddah, yaddah, but he couldn't take his only niece into a potentially dangerous situation. Helen would kill him.

"You have searched every bookstore for a way to get me out of this cursed spell?" Shendu asked, Catrina shifted, turning towards her uncle and also moving, the two Shadow Khan stood beside her didn't seem to be shifting. Apparently, they didn't care if she couldn't see.

"Yes, of course we have." Valmont said impatiently. A couple of his men nodded dumbly behind him. Ratso however, looked thoughtful.

"We never searched Chan's shop." He said slowly, and Valmont, Finn, Chow and Hak Foo turned to glare at him.

"Shut up you idiot, every time we go there, we get our butts kicked!" Finn hissed.

Shendu chuckled. "Exactly, that 'idiot' has got it. You haven't tried the Chi Wizard's store. His personal collection is extensive, there will be something there."

"Now, leave. I want you to come back to me the day after tomorrow. With results." The Shadow Khan stood like body guards to Catrina melted into the floor and disappeared. The four men began to walk out quickly, but Valmont was quicker, dragging Catrina by her collar.

She protested loudly, as soon as they were out of Shendu's room.

"Hey! Get off! I can walk you know! Uncle V!" She yelled, stumbling behind him, Valmont had quite a stride on him when he was angry, and boy was he angry now.

A few moments later when Hak Foo had disappeared and Chow had suddenly found an easier way to get home Catrina leant against the door of the limo sullenly. Finn was inside talking to Ratso, who was driving again.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!" Valmont raged at her, his face red, Catrina could see a vein in his temple that looked as if it were about to pop, but thought it better to keep quiet.

"HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY ME AND FOLLOW ME! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED! DO YOU KNOW HOW EASILY HE COULD HAVE KILLED YOU?" His hand reached out and hit her across her face. A red mark appeared almost instantly, and Catrina winced, but stayed silent.

Valmont's jaw slackened, he hadn't meant to do that, he was just too scared for her, and he'd never been scared for anyone like that before.

"He didn't though." Catrina said, in a small voice. She shrugged. "So…Everything's ok."

"OK? OK! HOW CAN IT BE OK? YOU'RE WORKING FOR A DEMON! This is why I didn't want you here. This is exactly why. It's a dangerous world! You should be in England, going to college, university, not wasting your time working for a demon!"

"Why?" Catrina asked. "I wouldn't get this work experience in England. I mean, sure, I can't put it on my resume, but if I can deal with a frickin' butt ugly demon ragging on me all day, then I'm pretty sure I can handle anything."

Valmont was flabbergasted. "Catrina, how can you not see that it is dangerous? You were chased by ninjas!" Catrina shrugged.

"I figured it was normal…" She said, blinking up at him.

'NORMAL?"

"Well, yeah, when I went past this shop and all the ninjas came after me, these guys came running out and started fighting them as if it was no big deal. So…I thought it was no big deal."

Her words repeated around Valmont's head for a few moments. How could that happen? Who would do that? He glared at her, and Catrina scowled stubbornly back. She didn't like getting told off, and she wouldn't forget his violence easily.

"What did they look like? These guys?" He asked, sharply. Catrina shrugged.

"I don't really think I got a good look at them…" She said smugly. "I can't remember, when you hit me all my memories just went…Poof!." Valmont swallowed, and took a deep breath.

"Get in the car. We have much to talk about, my sweet little niece." He said, ushering her in, with a smile a shark might give a fish before crunching it up.

Catrina inched away from Valmont as he sat still smiling creepily. He was trying to look calm, trying to resist the urge to shout at her until he was hoarse. They both knew he had gone to far when he had hit her; in fact her cheek was still red.

"So then, Catrina, would you like to explain who you saw fighting the Shadow Khan?" He asked, through gritted teeth. The vein was still there. Catrina was thinking of naming it. Valmont had a pretty good idea who it was, but needed proof before hand. She glanced at him, and shrugged.

"Don't remember. Might just have been a dog."

"A dog." Valmont repeated, staring at Catrina, who looked away innocently.

"Yeah, like I said, when you hit me, all my memories just went poof!"

"Poof."

"Yup." Catrina nodded. Finn took the time to talk to Ratso, about the weather. He didn't feel it was his business to interrupt.

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Well that's it then."

"Suppose."

"Good."

"So what am I doing tomorrow?" Catrina asked, pausing from the stony one word answers to quench her curiosity.

"You're grounded."

"Grounded?"

"Yep. Well, I'm afraid if you've lost your memory, you might forget where I live so if you go out you could get lost. I'm sure once you regain your memory I'll feel secure in the knowledge you won't get lost." Valmont said, cheerily.

Catrina stared at him. She smiled. "Not going to happen."

"And why not?"

"Because, my dearest darling uncle, you seem to forget that I'm Catrina Korr, I have never been grounded for longer than an hour. If you go out then I'll go too, and like you said, I might get lost. What would mum say then?" Catrina said smugly.

Valmont blinked at the force of the comment. She was just like him, scarily so. They stared at each other, each trying to outstare the other. Finn looked uneasily from one to the other. He wished he had sat up front with Ratso now…

"Hey, um, Big V?" Finn said, breaking the silence. "I was just wondering about tomorrow…I mean, Chan always beats us, even if we do go in there, and surprise him…Maybe…Maybe a distraction would work?" He suggested, swallowing. "Then, you could keep an eye on her, and she'd be doing work and…Stuff?"

The two relatives turned to glare at him. Catrina sat back on the seat, and crossed her legs. Valmont thought it over, it seemed he had no choice; she had obviously inherited her mother's uncanny ability to get out of anything. He took a deep breath, and Catrina sensed victory.

"Fine. You've probably already met the Chan family…You can go in and thank them for fighting. Mention something like you were dared to go into that building and chanced upon finding trouble. It's a bit thin, but since you are stupid enough to do it in real life, I'm sure it'll stick."

Catrina whooped, and punched the air.

"Oh you won't be going unpunished though. Don't you worry." Valmont frowned.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**The Chan family meet Catrina**

Catrina slowly walked towards the shop with instructions scrawled on a piece of paper in her hand. She scowled, apparently her uncle couldn't even drop her off, since she had to walk to make it look authentic. Great.

The sign in the window said open, and so Catrina pushed the door and walked in, hearing a little bell above her head jingle to announce her presence.

The store was empty, and although Catrina reallllly wanted to have a look around, she knew she was there for a purpose.

"Hello?" She called out, before picking up a pretty blue vase. She really couldn't help herself.

"Aiiiya! That's verrrry expensive, you break it you buy it! Silly kids, always messing in uncle's shop!" Came a voice, making Catrina jump and almost drop the vase. She caught it and placed it back down, giving the old man a grin.

"Oh don't worry; I'm sure I could pay for it." She said, arrogantly, pulling out the wad of cash from the day before. She flashed it quickly before hiding it, so it looked like a lot more. The old man's face changed immediately, and he smiled. He seemed to have forgotten her from yesterday. Was he senile?

"Thoru! Tea for the customer!" He yelled. Catrina shook her head and tried to refuse politely, but before long a steaming hot cup was placed in her hand.

"No, no…I'm...Taking a break from tea. I was here the other day…Perhaps you recognize me?" Uncle looked blank, and Thoru's brow furrowed.

Catrina smiled weakly. This family was mad. How on earth could they cause trouble to Valm-Hello, who was the tall, dark and handsome? Catrina smiled broadly as Jackie entered from the back, he had heard Uncle scream and was coming to see if it was his fault, yet again.

"Uncle?" He asked, looking at Catrina, who was innocently inspecting another vase. The young girl also from before, followed him in.

"Jackie! Jackie! It's her! She was here before! She was the one that was running from the Shadow Khan!" She said excitedly, hopping from foot to foot. Well, at least one of this family remembered her.

This was where Catrina started to shine. She knew she should have been sent to Acting Classes.

"Shadow what?" She asked, frowning, confused. "Do you mean those black ninja things? Well, that's what I was here for actually…To say thank you. They really scared me, and you fought them off." She smiled. "I-..I'm new to this area, this country really. I'm staying with my cousins, and we were all hanging around. They kept telling me this old building was haunted, and when we went there, we heard things, growls, like an animal was in there…And we saw things in the windows…" She blushed. "I know I should have gone in, but they all called me chicken…"

She watched them all raise an eyebrow.

"I'm not a chicken! But I'd like to see you have a whole bunch of black ninja people chasing after you with metal spiky things…" Catrina trailed off. "Oh…But…You're used to it! And all really good fighters!" She sighed; unsure of what to say next, all she hoped was that whoever had been given the job of stealing a couple of books from the room behind was quiet about it.

"What happened when they took you away?" The tall one, Jackie, asked.

"Ohh…" Catrina was at a loss for words. "Well, I don't know really…I was here, and then…It all went black and then I was somewhere else! But…I saw some of the ninja people go inside, and then I heard a really loud, like, uh, I dunno…It sounded weird. Like a bear or something, but speaking!"

Uncle looked at her. "What did it say?" He asked.

Catrina frowned, looking like she was trying to remember. "Well, he said, Jackie Chan was there? And that was it…After I heard that, everybody just left! It was like they slipped into the shadows or something. It was really scary!" She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked up her eyes wide. "Am I going crazy? Did it really happen?"

Jackie looked uncomfortable. "Ah…Well…I'm sure it was just your brothers-"

"Cousins."

"Cousins, playing a trick on you." He offered as an explanation. "I wouldn't ask too much about it…" He said, giving her a grin. Catrina returned with a weak smile. Had it been long enough? Surely, if Catrina had been doing it she would have finished by now, but she had as much faith in the three lackeys as Valmont and Shendu did. Which, let's face it, wasn't much.

"Well, whatever or, whoever it was, I just have to say…Thank you. Every single one of you came out to fight. It was quite a shock, but it was really nice." At that part Catrina didn't have to lie. She understood that they were on a different side to her, and she understood that if she was working for Shendu, at one point she would have to hate them. However the Chan's and Thoru had all raced out, with risk to themselves, to rescue one screaming English teenager. "Thank you." And for once, just once, Catrina meant it.

Jade, the smallest, grinned. "Aww, it was nothing! If you'd like I can teach you 'The Ancient Art of Butt Whoop.'" Catrina blinked.

"Jade! Don't bother the nice girl, she probably has much better things to do with her holidays than hang around learning…That." Jackie scolded. Jade sighed.

"But Jackiiie." She whined. "I'm the only one my own age around here! It's not like I have any school friends." She pulled a face. Catrina didn't understand. How could she not have school friends? At her old school she had been adored, if there had been cheer leaders over in Britain, Catrina would have been captain. Of course it only added to her arrogance, which probably wasn't a good thing in the long run.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I might be able to spend a little time with you. I'd have to check before hand." Catrina said, playing it safe. She doubted Valmont would let her, and although that wasn't a big problem, she wasn't sure she wanted to. The girl was a whiney brat!

There was a thump from the other room, and the group all turned to look at the door, Catrina cringed. All her hard work for nothing…Those fools!

"What was that?" Jade asked. Jackie shrugged. Uncle pointed.

"Jackie! Go and see!" He ordered, and Jackie obeyed. Catrina smiled; if her uncle had ever giving her an order like that Catrina would have laughed in his face.

"Maybe you have rats?" Catrina suggested, but Jackie had already wandered through. She gave a shudder. "Ugh. I hate rats!" She lied, stepping backwards. Catrina didn't care much for rats it was true, but the amount of dead ones, and worse, half dead rats she had had to get rid of when her cat had brought them in taught Catrina that they were nothing to be scared of. "I have to go...I mean…Not because of rats…I'm sure you don't...But…Uh…Just in case? You know...Well…Buh bye!" She burbled quickly, vacating the premises. As she left the shop she heard a yell, and walked quickly away. Her part was over, like she was going to risk her well being because Ratso had dropped a book!

Walking down the street, Catrina sighed on her way home. Life had suddenly got very complicated. What happened to the nice relaxing days spent by the pool, only stopped because she had a little shopping trip? She wasn't meant to be working, especially not doing dangerous work…Although the lying was ok.

"So, whatcha wanna do?" A small voice said behind her, making Catrina jump about a foot in the air and yell.

"What the hell?!" She glanced down at Jade, and tried to look overjoyed that she had followed her. "Uh, hi. So, um, shouldn't you be with your uncle? I mean…I've got to go home now, and I'm late already. My cousins will be upset. It's best if you don't come." She said, thinking fast, as she attempted to get her breathing back in some kind of order.

"That's ok, I'll wait outside." Jade said just as quickly. Catrina frowned.

"I'm grounded."

"I can come in then."

"You'll get beaten up, you're only a kid."

"Only a kid? I know more about fighting than you do. I know Kung Fu!" She complained. They walked for a bit, with Jade coming up with solutions to everything Catrina said. It was infuriating.

"Oh for gods sake!" She growled. "Look, I'm sorry, but I'd really rather find some people my own age to hang out with." She shrugged. "You're too young. You should find your own friends, your own age." She took a breath. "No wait, you can't apparently you have no friends, god, are you a retard or something? I mean, I could tell from your shop that your family is poor, but that shouldn't make that much difference. Granted, you wouldn't be in the in group, but you should at least be able to find one friend. Are you in the special needs group or something?"

Jade blinked, her amber eyes filling up, and Catrina almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

The small girl turned tail and ran, leaving Catrina to enjoy the silent walk home.

"You know…I'm sure I've seen that girl before, she reminds me of someone." Jackie said absently, as he tidied up the back of the shop. His fight with Ratso and co had been messy, the trio seemed determined to pull out as many books as possible. Uncle thwacked the side of his head.

"Keep cleaning!"

Jackie winced, but carried on, thinking to himself. He heard the shop door slam shut, and smiled, maybe Jade knew who she was.

"Jade, come in here for two seconds, you don't have to clean, promise!" Jade stomped in, with a face like thunder.

"Are all English people rude and arrogant? That girl was such a spiteful cow!"

Jackie blinked. "Jade! Language!"

"Sorry." She muttered. "But, seriously, are all English nasty? I mean, Valmont­"

"Valmont!" Jackie exclaimed, making the three others jump. "That's who she reminds me of! The hair, the accent, the personality. She must be related…" He glanced around. "Sent as a distraction while the others tried to steal from us!"

"You idiots!" Valmont snapped, pacing in front of his four workers. Catrina leaned on the wall behind him. They were in the office block again, but hadn't quite made it up to Shendu's floor.

Catrina smirked. "I did my part well…"

"Even a nineteen year old, even her, she managed to do her job. But you three?!" He raged.

Ratso, Finn and Chow looked impressively beaten up, and were feeling very sorry for themselves. Hak Foo was simply looking angry he had been beaten.

"Her job was easy!" Ratso said, glancing up.

"And taking a few books weren't? I'm sorry, I didn't realize it took brains to lift a book off of a shelf." Catrina remarked, tossing her hair. She studied her nails, feeling no remorse from her earlier shouting at Jade, in fact she had completely forgotten about it. Perhaps tomorrow she'd fine a group of people to hang out with. It was never hard for the cocky Catrina to speak to people.

Valmont exhaled sharply. "Come on, and your four are taking the rap for this."

"No way, Big V. Ratso was the one that dropped the books…He should." Finn said, indignantly.

Valmont didn't even respond, he was busy ushering his niece upstairs, quieting her complaints that she had broken a nail.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Shendu and Jackie are both surprised.**

Valmont stood protectively in front of Catrina, facing Shendu. It would have been a sweet gesture, if he hadn't placed his workers before him, and Helen didn't scare the bejeebus out of him. The dragon statue managed to glare at them all, even with a stone face.

"Let me guess…You failed. You miserab­" He began to rant, but Valmont coughed, and interrupted.

"Actually, apart from their little trip being cut short thanks to Ratso, they succeeded." He corrected. "Of course, this was thanks to Catrina. And now she's done her working experience, and shown her worth…You can let her go." He couldn't help but feel amazed at Catrina; at the moment she was still mourning her nail. People didn't really last long in front of Shendu, and when they were stood in front of him they usually paid attention.

"Let me go? No way!" She protested, her head jerking up suddenly.. "I had more fun this afternoon than I've ever spent working." In an effort to get away from her mother, Catrina had tried many part time jobs, from working in ASDA, to MacDonald's, she even tried a paper round. Unfortunately, Catrina was management material…She worked best ordering others around, and starting at the bottom of the career ladder just didn't cut it for her.

Chow grinned, turning around to watch another argument unfold between Valmont and his niece. It kept the heat off of them four, literally.

"Silence the both of you!" Shendu roared, and the bickering pair stopped, instantly. The dragon sighed and a plume of smoke escaped from his nostrils.

"Settle your family disputes on your own time." He snarled. "Show me the books!" Hak Foo looked at Finn, who looked at Ratso, who looked hopefully to Chow. There was quiet until it slowly dawned on Chow.

"Oh! Aww…I guess I'll get them…" He said, slouching off, to return moments later struggling under a heavy duffle bag full with ancient books. He upended the bag and all of the manuscripts fell out with a rustle of paper and a few thuds.

"Careful!" Shendu screamed. "They could hold the secret to my release!"

Hak Foo dipped down and picked one of the books. He opened it, and frowned, he knew basic Chinese…This? This was chicken scratch.

"Uhh, Master, I do not know ancient Chinese." He said in a puzzled voice. Ratso and Finn sighed happily.

"Neither do we." If Hak Foo could admit it, then it would be fine for them to do so as well.

"Fools! You think they are all Chinese?! Find one that isn't. I want all of these books read." There was a pause. "NOW!"

As most of the little group got themselves comfortable with a book they could understand fairly well, Catrina stood placidly. Valmont shoved an English written book into her hands as he walked past.

"Hey, um, mister dragon?" She said, speaking up. "I don't know what we are looking for." Catrina smiled, Valmont winced. How was he going to explain to Helen that her only daughter had been fried because she referred to a very powerful demon as mister dragon?

Not many people spoke to Shendu with out any fear. It was a rare occurrence, but once Catrina had noticed that while he shouted a lot he didn't do much in the realms of moving her confidence had come back with avengence. That, and the fact he wasn't paying her. There was a promise of great riches, Valmont said, and Shendu paid Valmont enough to get up and running again. There had been a brief time where Valmont had gone downhill but Catrina's mother had only mentioned a rival in work. He seemed rich enough now.

"Where are you from?" He asked slowly, the girl didn't seem to register he was a dragon.

"England." She replied, blinking, that was an unexpected question.

"Do you have dragons in England?"

Catrina laughed. "No, course not, silly. Dragons don't exist. Or at least…They don't usually exist. "

"Hmm…Strange. And, do you not go to school?"

"Nope."

"Ah, that explains it. Uneducated." Shendu seemed pleased with the answer, if she was simply stupid then she could be excused to a point.

"Wait…What?! Uneducated? Who do you think you're talkin' to?" Catrina said glaring at him. "I went to one of the best schools in England, and passed all my exams with flying colours! I've already finished school, you stupid lizard!"

Valmont had dropped the book and was on his feet before she had finished her sentence, but it did no good. Finn slowly shifted out of the firing range.

"Stupid lizard? STUPID LIZARD?!" He roared, making the walls shake. "You cannot read any of the ancient languages, you do not listen to your elders, and you know nothing about dragons or demons! Lizard indeed, I will turn your bones to ash!"

Catrina was unfazed; she'd been threatened before, and was still smarting over the uneducated remark.

"I'm not the one stuck on a wall in an abandoned office block." She retorted, snappily. "I'm not the one who has to rely on these guys AND I'm not the one who looks as if he's been dropped down a flight of stairs!" One hand was on her hip, and the other was pointing at Shendu.

Ratso uncurled his arm away from his face, how the hell was she still standing there?

Valmont was repeatedly smacking his head off a wall. Helen was going to kill him…

Finn and Chow were placing bets on how long she'd stay alive.

And Hak Foo was sat there, out of harms way still reading. He'd get the biggest reward if he found out how to release Shendu.

"How dare you talk to me like that…" He hissed, his ruby red eyes narrowed to slits. "You know nothing…"

"I know you'd research a lot faster on the internet, without having to break in to some guys shop." Catrina shrugged.

"Intinat? What is an intinat?" Catrina smirked, hearing the dragon question her.

"The internet is a place where all information is stored, and you can access it with a click of a button." She replied. "But of course, if you'd like to keep to the old methods, you'd probably be searching through grubby old books till the sun blows up." Catrina said with a bright smile.

"Where do I find this intinat?" He asked it would be nice to finally get somewhere, stealing all these books were getting tiresome; he needed to be demon to exact his revenge!

"Well, it just so happens you're talking to an expert at working the internet. All I need is a day and a grand. I'll get you all wired up, and then you can find what you're looking for."

Shendu seemed to think this over. "Valmont!" He growled. Valmont snapped to attention. "Why have you never told me about this intinat? I demand you get me one!"

"Well, you see Shendu, I don't know how to work it." Valmont started, damned technical things never worked for him, he'd rather pay someone to do it for him, and it seemed Catrina knew how to work a silly computer.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

"Did she come here to really thank us? Or was it just a distraction for the Hak Foo to steal those books." Jackie said, sweeping the floor. They had finally put all of the books away, and Uncle had been cursing Valmont's lackeys for the past half hour, no amount of Tea could settle him, but Toru had been scolded by one of the flying cups.

"She was here just to fool us all! I say we cast a sell on her, turn her into a frog!" Jade said enthusiastically. Jackie shook his head. Jade hadn't told him what she had said to upset her so much, but she had been nothing but spiteful if ever the girl was mentioned.

"Now Jade, that's not good magic, Toru and Uncle would be ashamed of you." He said in his scolding voice. Jade snorted.

Toru came in, armed with a large map of San Francisco; he dumped it on the table, and straightened it out.

"Catrina said the roaring was coming from an abandoned building. If Shendu is back we have to find out where." He said. "That could be why they stole some books….I thought Shendu was shattered though?"

"Here's a thought…They stuck him back together? Besides, who said it was Shendu? We've gotten rid of him hundreds of times. It could have been Tarakudo. He growled, and it wasn't as if _Catrina _saw anything. Bet she couldn't see anything if her life depended on it." Jade said icily.

"Jade! What on earth did she say to make you so angry?" Jackie asked, as Toru had a whole wave of stupidity wash over him. Of course, Jade was right….Tarakudo controlled Shadow khan; it could be him instead of Shendu.

"She said I had no friends at school." Jade muttered. Jackie blinked.

"But you don't…You're always telling me how you hate school, and how they are all out to get you."

"That's not the point!"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Catrina sat playing games on the brand new laptop she had persuaded Valmont to buy. Ratso was getting tangled up in wires while he and Chow were trying to get a phone line hooked up. Technically you only needed a cheap computer to get on the internet, but since Valmont had no idea what he was buying, and Catrina desperately needed a laptop to take home with her, she had convinced him that this was better.

With her back against the wall, Catrina could see Shendu watching the flashing screen out of the corner of her eye; it was like those paintings that followed you around the room, but much, much worse.

"Are you researching?" Shendu asked, in his snarling way.

"Nope." Came the carefree remark.

"WHY NOT!?!" He roared, Catrina felt the floor beneath her crossed legs shake. She was surprised that the building stood up, Shendu had a very short temper.

"Because the wires haven't been connected yet?" Catrina said innocently. She glanced up once, and grinned, before returning to her enthralling game of solitaire.

Half an hour later, and one electric shock, Chow managed to connect Catrina and she opened up a window. Using one of the search engines, Catrina typed a few silly things in, before settling in, and searching properly.

There were a few mythology sites, but the ones that interested her were the conspiracy sites, recent ones. In fact there were quite a few reports of dragons and aliens that really sounded familiar…

Catrina blinked, scrolling down a little more. "Oh wow…" She murmured. There was also a few mentions of a smaller dragon, named Drago. Next she searched Shadow khan, and got lots of shadowy pictures. Figures.

"So…What are we looking for?" She said, smiling as she saw Valmont, or at least part of her uncle in the picture. He was wearing a dress.

"How to free a demon from an earthly prison." Shendu snarled. Catrina nodded, but as far as she was concerned, reading the rumor sites about all the strange happenings in this town was much more fun!

After a while Catrina did return to the ancient Chinese sites, using a translator to read everything for her. What was the point in learning a new language? She could use a computer to do it all for her. There was a few different ways, but when Catrina asked about them, she got a growl of frustration from Shendu, and a painful story from one of the others. Even mentioning some pretty little rocks with pictures on them earned a particularly depressing story.

"God. You aren't very good are you? I mean, everything has been used up…That Jackie person must be really annoying. He looked fairly dopey when I saw him." Catrina remarked casually, not letting out what she had first thought of him…She was a teenager after all, and teenagers were notorious for fancying any member of the opposite sex. It was like an unwritten rule!

"Yes well, he isn't as dopey as he looks, and his family are most annoying for coming up with solutions if he ever does get into trouble."

"Even the little brat?"

"Even the little brat." Valmont nodded. "I don't know how, but she always tags along and spoils things."

"Well, why don't you just give up, from what I've heard you've exhausted Chinese mythology. There's nothing left."

"There is!" Screamed Shendu, poor demon, he was desperate and was not going to admit defeat, not while he still lived.

"No…There isn't, have you tried any other ancient civilizations? I mean, it wouldn't be exactly but you might find something along the lines. If China has magic, then surely the rest of the world does." Catrina said, reasonably. "What about…Europe or America…?"

The group looked at Shendu, could they swap things like that? It would certainly broaden the chances of finding something for Shendu.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"If it Tarakudo why did they steal Chinese books? Hmmmm?" Uncle asked thwacking the side of Toru's head. "They only stole Chinese books, or Chinese looking books, two were recipe books for rice."

"No, they stole others as well. It looked as if they just took a random selection, which really doesn't help."

Jade had been working unsupervised magic for about a year now, she was getting reasonably competent. Time to show Catrina she wasn't some retard!

With one of the supposedly stolen books, Jade did a little research of her own, and although she was distracted by many of the more powerful spells, she finally settled on one close to one of Uncle's remedies when Jackie had been turning to stone.

How pretty would Catrina feel when she woke up green? Nobody was nasty to Jade, not without a little it of revenge. She grinned, book marking the page. The only problem was getting close enough to spay her, preferably without Catrina being aware.

This would be a lot easier if she still had control of shadow khan.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"I…Believe that might work." Shendu said slowly, thinking it over. Had they used other magic before? Shendu couldn't remember, being a demon thousands of years old really at its downside, like a short term memory that was really lacking.

Catrina typed for a moment, tilting the screen so she could read it. "You know…Africa has something about releasing demons." She blinked, it also had another word after that part, but the translator hadn't recognised it. It wouldn't be too important; it was just one word after all!

"Africa? African tribal spells?" Valmont said, raising an eyebrow. "But you can't possible believe they'd work."

"Until I came here I didn't believe dragons and demons existed." Catrina argued.

"The child has a point." There was a snort from the child. "And I cannot stand to be trapped in this statue any more, I need my freedom again!" He snarled.

"You need a lot of weird stuff…Like the horn of a buffalo, and the blessed dirt of a full moon." Catrina said, wrinkling her nose.

"Horn of a buffalo, is that the tall spirally one?" Ratso asked, Finn groaned.

"No you doofus, that's a gazelle, a buffalo is the one with the curly horns." He tried to show Ratso with his own arms, but failed miserably. Catrina giggled, and pulled up a picture of a buffalo.

There was a noise of realisation from Ratso, who then glanced at Finn.

"That looked nothing like a buffalo….And you called me the doofus?"

"Hey, um, where are we going to find a buffalo horn?" Chow asked.

"Or the bark from a rubber gum tree. Or two pounds of savannah grass." Catrina added.

"I refuse to go to Africa. Hak Foo, you go. Take those three to distract the buffalo while you saw off its horn." Valmont said waving a hand. Catrina looked hopeful. "No! Never. Not going to happen, Catrina you are forbidden to go to Africa with those four. For-bid-den. Understand?"

Catrina grumbled something that sounded quite nasty.

"Do you understand?!" He repeated loudly.

"Umm…." He scowled at her, and she sighed. "Yes, Uncle Valmont." She said sweetly.


End file.
